Tuesday, March 24, 2015

The 10-Minute Rule

Pep Talk

Sometimes we have those days when we just don't feel up for a workout.  But often it's hard to tell the difference between:
  1. Being legitimately tired, sick, or over-trainined, and,
  2. Just not WANTING to do the workout from a motivational standpoint.
Most of the time when we feel too "tired" to train, we are really just feeling too lazy to train.  We start to wonder if we should be training if we feel so tired.  But really what we're doing is rationalizing excuses to derail our fitness goals.

You can use a trick called the 10-minute rule on those days when it's hard to get to the gym.  The 10-minute rule works like this:
  • Go to the gym and start your workout.  You MUST complete the first 10 minutes, even if it consists of walking on the treadmill at an easy pace.
  • If, after 10 minutes, you still are not engaged, motivated, and feeling ready to train, you have guilt-free permission to end the workout and go home.
The 10-minute rule gives you a way to stay on track.  If your reasons to skip the workout were purely motivational, chances are that once you start the workout, you will see it through to the end.  However, if you are genuinely in need of rest, your body will still be wiped after 10 minutes and you probably need to take a day off.

Challenge Workout

You will need a bench, chair, or set of stairs for this workout.
Complete 5 rounds, taking breaks as needed, of: